Compiling the death toll

Joe Drape, NEW YORK TIMESCHICAGO TRIBUNE

Over the last five years, 3,035 thoroughbreds, standardbreds and quarter horses have died at racing facilities, but not all of them on the track or in racing-related accidents, according to statistics provided to a Congressional subcommittee by the Association of Racing Commissioners International.

In the wake of the injury and on-track euthanizing of the filly Eight Belles in the Kentucky Derby, the numbers provide a snapshot of the peril racehorses face. The RCI, a nonprofit trade association, concluded that over that five-year period there were 2,427,561 starters, and the number of deaths amounted to .125 percent.

"When you look at the numbers, what they show is that 99.875 percent of the time when a horse starts a race, they walk off safely afterwards," said Ed Martin, president of the RCI, which compiled the report's data.

"There's no historical perspective to put them in," he said. "Some people say things have gotten worse, others say they have gotten better. Right now, it's largely anecdotal. We're as curious as Congress about the magnitude of the problem, and support their efforts. We'd like to see a large-scale research project into catastrophic injuries funded as well."

The House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection will have a hearing Thursday titled "Breeding, Drugs, and Breakdowns: The State of Thoroughbred Racing and the Welfare of the Thoroughbred Racehorse."

Its chairman, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), and ranking minority member, Ed Whitfield (R.-Ky.), appear to want to create a central body to govern horse racing, similar to the British Horseracing Authority.

Among other materials the subcommittee requested from the individual racing commissions was a breakdown of trainers penalized for medication or performance-enhancing drug infractions in the last five years.

Of the approximately 15,000 licensed horse trainers in the United States, 1,335, or 8.9 percent, have been cited for medication violations, Martin said.

Of 1,897 individual medication violations during the last five years, slightly more than two-thirds -- 67.6 percent -- were violations for surpassing allowable levels for therapeutic medications.

"There were 167 -- or 1.1 percent -- of what we consider more severe violations where drugs were used clearly to enhance performance," Martin said.

Spokesmen for the subcommittee, as well as for Whitfield, did not return telephone and e-mail messages.

Martin said the subcommittee requested the information in a May 22 letter, and asked that it be compiled and in its office by June 2. He said the short turnaround time and the structure of some state racing commissions made it difficult to separate statistics for individual breeds.

The report included numbers from 19 of the 38 racing jurisdictions. Some of the jurisdictions' individual statistics were quite specific.

The New York State Racing and Wagering Board broke down the 637 horse deaths on its harness and thoroughbred tracks over the five-year period: 388 occurred on the track, 60 occurred in training and 189 were non-racing-related deaths that occurred in the backstretch.

"The 388 deaths that occurred while racing are out of a total of 521,703 starters (.07 percent)," it reported.

In Kentucky, where medication rules are far more lenient than in other states, there were 208 deaths out of 114,668 starters, or .181 percent, the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority said.

When the subcommittee announced the hearing on Wednesday, it made it clear that it intended to use the Interstate Horse Racing Act to enforce oversight of the industry.

Congress could prohibit the off-track betting that in 2007 accounted for more than 90 percent of the $15.4 billion bet on thoroughbred racing.

"The hearing will explore all aspects of the health and well-being of thoroughbred racehorses, including commercial breeding practices that emphasize speed and precocity over durability, the prevalence of performance-enhancing drugs and other medications, track surfaces, and maintenance of the tracks," a news release announcing the hearings said.

Questions sent to RCI, the Jockey Club and racetrack operators such as Churchill Downs, Inc., which hosts the Kentucky Derby, and Magna Entertainment Corp., which owns Pimlico, where the Preakness Stakes is held, indicate the subcommittee is interested in creating an authority that will implement uniform rules.

"One of the questions that no doubt will be raised will be, 'Does the thoroughbred industry have the structure to effect change?'" said Alex Waldrop, president of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. "We'll be addressing that."